PINOLE — The city is poised to take title to an elegant, late-19th century farmhouse in the Old Town district for what preservationists hope will be a future city museum.

A transfer of the historic Faria House, from the Successor Housing Agency of the former Pinole Redevelopment Agency to the city, was approved by the City Council on July 19.

The city will pay the approximately $30,000 fair market value — the difference between the appraised value of the property in its current condition, estimated at $350,000, minus a credit of $322,000 for renovation — according to a staff report from Assistant City Manager Hector de La Rosa.

Jeff Rubin, president of the Pinole Historical Society, hailed the council’s action as “Step 2 on (the) road to a museum” in his president’s message in the Summer 2016 issue of the Pinole Historical Society Newsletter. The first step had occurred on March 1, when the council agreed to have the Faria House appraised for possible purchase.

“Members of the historical society are very happy that the City Council recognizes the importance of preserving and sharing the city’s history with members of our community,” Rubin said in an interview this week. Many of those community members, he added, “are newcomers to the city and are not aware of the extraordinary history of this small city.”

The Faria House — not its original name — was built sometime between 1880 and 1891 by members of the 19th century pioneer Tennent family: either Samuel Tennent, his son James Tennent, or William Allen, the father of James Tennent’s wife, according to different historical accounts. It became known as the Faria House after the family of Joseph Faria and Maria Nunes, who bought it around 1912. The house originally stood on land occupied today by the Kaiser Permanente medical complex on Pinole Valley Road, just north of Interstate 80.

It is among three famous Pinole homes built on hills cited by historian George Vincent in “Back in the Day,” an essay in the Winter 2016 historical society newsletter. The others are the Fernandez Mansion at the corner of Tennent and Railroad avenues, built in 1894, and the Downer Mansion, on a hill above San Pablo Avenue and John Street, built circa 1900-05. Additionally, there are several smaller mid- to late-19 century houses in Pinole’s old downtown.

The Pinole Redevelopment Agency eventually acquired the Faria ranch site subject to certain conditions, and in 2005, moved the house to its present location in Heritage Park, at 2100 San Pablo Ave. in Old Town.

Three granddaughters of Joseph Faria who grew up in the Faria House still live in the area: Margaret Faria Prather and Deanna Faria Brownlee, both in Pinole, and Dolores Faria Lucas, in Vallejo.

Jim Brownlee, Deanna’s husband, said this week that the entire extended Faria family, not just the sisters, are happy about the City Council’s decision.

“The understanding was that the house would be moved, and eventually made into a museum,” Brownlee said, adding that another condition of sale was that the house would not be used for a commercial purpose. “That was the original intention, and that’s what they would like to see done with it.”